Moving-picture machine.



' L. W. MERKELL MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1912.

1,075,487. Patented 001.14, 1913.

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J0 A el' L. W. MBRKEL. MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1912.v L?. Patented 0015.14, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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L. W. MBRKEL. MOVING PICTURE MACHINE..

APPLICATION PILPD SEPT. e. 1912.

1,075,487. Patented 001.111,1913;

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Suva/Alfoz wmeooeo l l prevent the UNTE@ tllifilblel PATENT Lnwrs W. MERKEL, or ALLnn'rov/n,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSXGNOR GF ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN J'. HANLON AND ONE-FOURTH T0 HARRY G. SCHELDON, BOTH OF ALLEN- TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

MOVING-PICTURE MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 60ct. lid, itii?.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thatlt, Lnwis W. MERKEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allentown, in the county of Lehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Moving-Picture Machines; and l do declare the following to be alfull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make, and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in moving picture machines generally, 'and particularly to improvements in the machine shown in United States Patent #1,026,991

vgranted to me May 21, 1912.

One object of the invention is to improve the construction and operation of the film supporting tray shown in the above described patent, whereby should the operating mechanismv suddenly stop for any cause, the revolution of the tray will be gradually stopped,`thus preventing the lm from unwinding when the machine is not running and which will also assist in revolving the tray when the machine is in motion.

Another object is to provide means whereby the movement of the film will be con-v trolled, so that the same will be operated evenly and without jerking.

A further object is to provide means to film from rising out of the. hlm supporting tray in coils while being fed therefrom.

VJith these and other objects in view, the

invention consists of certain novel.` features' of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

in the accompanying drawings :#Figure lis a side view of a'moving picture machine, having a horizontally-disposed reel boX, and showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section ofthe reel bott, taken on the line 22 of 1;

Fig. 3 is vertical section, taken on the line.

3-3 of 2; i is a similar view,

`taken on tie line ie-fi of Fig. 2; 5 is horizontal section3 taken on the line 57i-o ofrw 3 1U. 6 is a detail plan view of my D. l l a improved tension rollers for guiding and keeping the film at the proper tension, one

of said rollers being shown in section; Fig.

7 is an end view of the same; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail longitudinal section of the tray and film supporting cone.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 denotes the lamp and lens box of the machine.` The boii 1 may be of the usual or any suitable construction, and is provided with any suitable form of film operating mechanism. Arranged above the box l is my improved reel holding boX 2, said box being attached to the lamp box l by a suitable supporting bracket 3, as shown. The box 2 is preferably constructed of sheet metal and comprises a cylindrical body portion or drum 4- having on one edge adjacent to its lower portion a substantially rectangular extension 5. The drum 4 is provided with a door vor hinged cover 6, whereby access may be had thereto.n Suitably supported in the bottom of the drum i is a tray supporting spider 7 having thereon a centrally disposed upwardly projecting tray supporting shaft 8. @n the shaft 8 is revolubly mounted a tray supporting and film holding cone 9 having near .its lower end an annular flange 10 which ta ers or inciines from the cone to its outer edge, as shown. llhc lower end of the cone projects a short distance below the iiange and` forms a boss to receive the film supporting tray il. rihe tray l1 is of circular form and has its bottom convex or projecting inwardly toward the center. T he tray is clamped in engagement with 'the fiange 1G by a combined beveled friction gear. and ciamping nut 12, which has a threaded engagement with the projecting end of the boss formed by the eX- tcnsion of the cone 9 below the i0, as shown. rihe projecting iower end of the boss on the cone 9 is engaged with a ball bearing 13 formed in the upper side of the .central portion of the tray supporting spider 7. as shown. rlhe cone 9 thv ray 1i when thus arranged are held in ln on the shaft 8 by a collar iet and nut arranged on the upper end of the shaft collar being engaged with bearing 17 arranged in an annular re f yhe upper end of the cone .9, a

volubiyriounted ai bars 19 conne 2G tue spider "'.7 is a controlling shaft 2l a vthrough the combined gear 12 to the tray 11 and cone 9, whereby these parts are revolved.

When the shaft 21 and beveled gear 22 are stopped through th'e stopping of the operating mechanism of the machine, the engagement of the friction gear 22 with the gear 12will tend to retard and gradually stop the revolving of the tray 11 and cone 9. The shaft 21 is threaded and has screwed thereon an interiorly-threaded collar 23, between which and the outer bearing of the shaft is a coiled spring 25. The pressure of the spring 25 is exerted to yieldingly hold the gear 22 in engagement with the gear 12 on the cone 9. By adjusting the collar 23, it will be seen that pressure of the spring 25 may be regulated to forcevthe gear 22 into more or less tight engagement with the gear 12.

The outer end of the shaft 21 projects through and a suitable distance beyond one side of the boX or drum 4, and on said projecting end of the shaftfis fiXedly mounted a drive pulley or gear 26. The gear 26 is connected by a. belt or chain 27 with a pulley 28 on the shaft 29 of the lower or winding reel 30 whereby the shaft 21 is driven in the proper direction for revolving the tray at the same speed as the film is being fed and wound onto the winding reel 30. The reel 30 is driven by av chain 31 connected with a sprocket gear on the opposite end of-the reel shaft 29-fro-m that having the pulley 28, said chain 31 being also engaged with a drive sprocket 32 on the power shaft 33 ofthe film operating mechanism as shown.

By thus connecting the shaft 21 of the friction gear 22 with the film feeding mechanism, it will be seen that as long as this mechanism is in motion, the movementthereof will be communicated through the shaft 21 and friction geary 22 to the friction gear- 12 on the frame supporting cone, thereby revolving the tray and cone at the same speed as the film is being fed through the machineand wound on thereel. If when thus geared up, should the operating mechanism of the machine suddenly stop, the shaft 21 and friction gear 22 will alsostop, so that the engagement of the non-rotating gear 22 and the gear 12 on the tray will act to retard and gradually stop the movement of the `cone and tray, which wo-uld otherwise continue to revolve under the mechanism iupplied thereto by the shaft 21 and gear 22` which continued movement of the tray and cone would cause the coils of film to loosen and unwind from the cone.

1n addition to the tray operating and automatic controlling mechanism herein described, I also provide means whereby the movement of the film will be controlled,

the box 1 at substantially the same position occupied by the shaft 77 and fianged guide rollers 78 in t-he patent hereinbefore referred to. The rollers 34 take the place of the roller 78 in the said patent. It will be noted that the bar 36 is pivotally connected to the shaft 37 at a point o from the center of or nearer to one end of the bar than the other, so that the end of the bar containing one o-f the rollers is longer than the other end of the bar.

On the shaft 37 between the bar 36 and the adjacent side of the `boX 2, to which the shaft is attached is arranged a spacing sleeve 38, on iwhich is mounted a coiled spring 39, one end of which is secured to the side of the box while .the other end is extended and connected to the longer end of the bar 36, as shown at 40. When the rollers are thus arranged, the strip of film passes from the'cone in the tray around and between the rollers, as shown, and thence passes downwardly through a pair of vguide rollers 41, which are revolubly-mountedzin 'an opening in the bottom of the extension 5 of the boX 2 and from said rollers the film enters and passes through the lamp and lens boxl to the winding reel 30, as shown: The film in thus passing over the rollers 34 .will always be stretched and held at the proper tension and if the machine should feed faster than the film is unwound from the tray, the pull on the film willl swing the lower end of the bar 36 back, thereby turning the .bar toward a horizontal position the film' travels between the tray and feed-,.-

ing mechanism which allows the feeding mechanism to get more film without a sudden jerking on thel latter or the tray. As soon as the increased tension or pull is removed from the film, the spring 39 will act to swing the bar 36 and the rollers 34 back to their .normal positions.A The rollers 34 are preferably of hollow construction, as shown, whereby they may he made as light as possible.

The strip of, films when unwound from the cone 9 in the tray ll-and before being engaged with the rollers 34 on the arm 36 passes between a pair of film guiding rollers 42 and 43, which are revolubly mounted in a roller supporting or bearing frame 44 having a threaded stem 45. rIhe .stem 45 is engaged with a threaded socket forming part of a supporting arm 46, the inner end of which is pivotally connected to a supporting bracket 47. rIhe bracket 47 has a sliding engagement with a curved longitudinally slotted supporting bar 4S, which is secured to the inner side of the box 2, as shown. By thusattaching the inner end of the arm 4G, said arm and the guide rollers 42 and 43 may be shifted to different positions within the box. The inner end of the arm 46 is provided with asquared head, with which is engaged a flat spring 49, whereby the arm 46 and the rollers are yieldingly held in an elevated position above the cone and tray, and by Vmeans of which the arm and rollers may be held up in an inoperative position below the top of the box when not in use or when a vnew rolly of film is being placed in the tray.

In order to prevent the coils of filmjfro'm rising out of the tray before being properly uncoiled I provide a coil retaining member comprising a spring wire rod 50, which is secured midway between its ends to the outer .end of the frame 44, which supports the film guide rollers 42 and 43. The ends of the film holding rods 50 project outwardly and downwardly from the center of the rods at a suitable distance above the coils or rolls of film in the ,tray and the outer ends of the rod are turned upwardly to form loops,- which prevent the ends from catching into the coils of the film. By means of the film member 50, the tendency of the coils to rise upwardly faster than they are fed from the tray will lbe prevented.

By means of the improvements herein shown and described, it will be seen that the operation and feeding, of the film will be automatically controlled, thereby producing better results than would be obtained fromthe machine shown in the patent herein referred to or other machines now in use.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying draw-` ings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation. Various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as claimed..

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A moving picture machine, a reel box, a film tray revolubly mounted therein, a friction gear fixedly connected to the tray, a revolubly and slidablymounted shaft connected with and driven by the film feeding mechanism ofthe machine, a friction gear on said shaft to engage the friction gear `on Q the tray, and a spring to yieldingly hold the friction gear on the shaft in operative 'engagement with the gear on the tray.

Q. In a moving picture machine, a reel box, a film supporting tray revolubly mounted therein, a film holding cone having a reduced inner end to receive the tray and having a flange engaged' with the inner side of the bottom of the tray, a combined threaded clamping nut and. friction gear having a threaded engagement with the reduced end of the .cone whereby the tray is rigidly fastened thereto, a revolubly mounted tray operating shaft connected to and driven by the film feeding mechanism of the machine, a friction gear mounted on said shaft and having an operating engagement with the combined nut and friction gear on said cone and'tray, whereby these parts are revolved as long as said shaft is driven by said film feeding mechanism and whereby when said mechanism is stopped said shaft and the gear thereon will also be stopped and thereby. exert a retarding action on the gear of the tray to gradually stop the movement of the latter.

3. In a moving picture machine, a reel box, a film supporting tray revolubly mounted therein, a friction gear fixed on said tray, a tray operating shaft revolubly and'slidably mounted in said reel box, a friction gear fixed on sa-id shaft, a spring to yieldingly hold the friction gear on the shaft in operative engagement with the gear on the tray whereby as long as said shaft is driven the tray will be revolved and whereby when said shaft is stopped and held, the frictional vengagement of the gear thereon with the gear on the tray will gradually stop the latter.

4. In a moving picture machine, a reel box, a film supporting tray revolubly mounted therein, a film supporting member projecting from said tray, film gpiding rollers to receive and guide the film when unwound from the tray, a pair of tension rollers, a pivotally mounted roller supporting bar adapted to revolubly support said rollers in 'operative position to receive the film V from said guide rollers, a spring engaged with4 said roller supporting. bar whereby the latter is held in position to maintain the film at the proper tension when fed from the tray and whereby should the film be fed faster than the same is delivered from the tray, said tension rollers and their supporting bar will be rocked by the pull of the film to momentarily shorten the distance of the travel of the film therebycompensating for the faster feeding of the mechanism and preventing the jerking of the film.

5. In a'. moving picture machine, a reel box, a film supporting tray revolubly mounted therein, a filmholding cone having a flange engaged with the bottom of the tray, a combined clamping nut and friction gear having a threaded engagement with the cone, a shaft connected to and driven by the film feeding mechanism of the machine, a friction gear mounted on said shaft, and means for 'pressing it yieldingly into operating engagement With the combined nut and friction gear.

6. In a moving picture machine, a reel box,v a film supporting tray revolubly mounted therein, a film supporting member projecting from said tray, a guide roller l supporting frame suitably mounted above the tray', film guiding rollers mounted in saidv frame, a coil retaining memberv comprising a spring metal rod secured intermediate its ends to said guide roller supporting frame and having its l ends projecting downwardly and laterally and in opposite direc nesses.

LEWIS l/V. MERKEL. Witnesses:

GEORGE E. BOYLE, ROSE A. KIMMETT. 4 

